ISLAMABAD — Pakistani police arrested Monday a number of prime leaders from former imprisoned Prime Minister Imran Khan’s opposition occasion, a day after some individuals clashed with the police a mile from a protest calling for his launch.
Among the many detainees, accused of inciting violence, was the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf occasion, Gohar Khan, who shouldn’t be associated to the previous premier. Movies circulating on-line confirmed police taking the occasion head out of his car earlier than whisking him away to a police station. The PTI mentioned in an announcement different prime occasion officers have been arrested in a number of ongoing raids however did not disclose what number of have been detained.
There was no fast remark from police.
Tens of 1000’s of supporters of the ex-prime minister, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022 and whose arrest brought about widespread violence, took to the streets Sunday demanding his launch. The largely peaceable occasion witnessed violence after some clashed with the police on a freeway, a mile from the city of Sanjrani, on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, the place the protest occurred.
The police mentioned a number of officers have been injured.
At Sanjrani, PTI occasion leaders addressed the protesters in fiery speeches, threatening to forcefully free Khan from jail if he isn’t launched within the subsequent two weeks. Authorities mentioned fees will probably be introduced towards Ali Amin, the highest elected official within the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, for the two-week ultimatum and inciting individuals to violence.
His spokesman informed an area information channel they’d misplaced contact with him. It remained unclear if he was arrested or went into hiding.
Khan faces a slew of authorized circumstances and has been in jail for almost a yr after being sentenced in a graft case. He’s the primary rival of present Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and stays a preferred determine regardless of these circumstances, which critics and his occasion say are politically motivated.
Zulfi Bukhari, Khan’s spokesman, denounced the arrests of the occasion’s prime leaders and supporters. He known as the arrests “a knee-jerk response” to the “large numbers” of people that joined the protest that day earlier than. He additionally mentioned the occasion leaders have been arrested as a result of they “took a agency stance,” demanding the favored politician’s launch.
PTI in an announcement on the social media platform X on Monday mentioned Khan has thanked his supporters for peacefully holding the rally in Islamabad. It quoted Khan as saying: “You’ve all damaged the shackles of worry to face up & struggle.”